Bushiroad of Japan announced last Friday that the upcoming Fighter's Climax 2014 winter national tournament will implement Extreme Fight Rules for one of its sub-events, providing an alternative play environment to the current form of competition. Unlike with standard rules, EFR promotes open use of all cards belonging to all clans within one deck, with no restrictions on clan-related trigger activation conditions or skills. The Lord skill, which was once used to prevent the mixing of clans within one deck, is ignored in this format, as are the Fighter's Rules and restricted list. The implementation of EFR in FC2014 was made in light of the release of Extra Boosters 10 and 11, which each promote synergy between the Shadow Paladin and Genesis clans through sharing cards which bear the "Witch" subclan. The winter tournament will also see the revival of the Open class division for the VF Koushien team tournament series, meaning that there will once again be two separate classes of age-based participation for triples competition.
Bushiroad further announced that stocks of the recently-released VG-BT17: Blazing Perdition are completely sold out in Japan, necessitating another print run to meet up with demand.
The VGCS tournaments are a series of unofficial tournaments organized by fans and cardshops. Unlike Bushiroad's larger official tournaments, most VGCS events are done using a best of 3, Swiss tournament model. Turnout is typically 70-80 persons, but some events see 100 or more participants, all of whom compete using pseudonyms and internet handles rather than their real names as in official events. The VGCS model of fan-organized play has begun to gain popularity internationally, with the bi-monthly BeNeLux tournaments serving as their European equivalent, and there are now similar grassroots organizations emerging in the United States like Cosmic Oasis' tournament series and the ongoing King of Cardfight competition in the American midwest.
Kanazawa - Hyakumangoku CS/百万石CS
First place: Fujimaru playing Thing Saver-“Abyss.” Fujibaru's TSA was the five grade 3 variant
Second place: Gray playing Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Third place: Burst with Thing Saver-Sacred Wingal
Fourth place: Kae with Thing Saver-Light Saver Dragon
The Hyakumangoku CS had 53 participants, and five Swiss rounds followed by a cut to top 8 for the four-round finals. A video of the finals taken from a viewer's iPhone was livestreamed to the Twitcasting mobile video service, but there is no public recording of it. In order to prevent the kind of Legion-based mixing seen at the Fourth Laketown VGCS, Hyakumangoku's tournament organizers implemented Bushiroad's Clan Fight rules, restricting each participant to playing only a single declared clan, except for Royal Paladin fighters who are permitted to use up to 10 Shadow Paladin cards due to a loophole based on Majesty Lord Blaster's deck requirements.
One of the reasons “Abyss” has proven so successful in the deck is because of its role as an opening grade 3 ride. This helps build soul for Thing Saver because both parts of a Legion will move into the soul on-ride, which makes it easier for TSD to restand multiple times while “Abyss” becomes an earlier restand fueled by Mackart and Dark Bond Trumpeter. Although pure Seeker cardfighters have persevered, either sticking to their guns with Sacred Wingal as their supporting grade 3 or by experimenting with the new Light Saver Legion, at this particular tournament they were outnumbered by their Thing Saver-“Abyss” counterparts 8-4. TSA has supplanted actual TS as the definitive Royal Paladin deck of this format.
Clan breakdownFujimaru's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
12 Royal Paladin (8 Thing Saver 4 Thing Saver-“Abyss”)
7 Shadow Paladin (6 Revenger 1 Witch)
6 Nova Grappler (Raizer)
5 Link Joker (1 Chaos Breaker-Dark Zodiac, 1 Chaos Breaker-Garnet Star, 1 Imaginary Plane-Garnet Star 1 Imaginary Plane-Dark Zodiac)
4 Brawler (3 Big Bang 1 Shotgun)
4 Regalia (Yggdrasil)
3 Bermuda Triangle
3 Oracle Think Tank (Battle Sister)
3 Gold Paladin (Liberator)
2 Aqua Force
1 Tachikaze
1 Kagerou (Perdition Dragon)
1 Great Nature
1 Granblue
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x3 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x1 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x1 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
x1 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter
x1 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x3 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
x1 Knight of Loyalty, Bedivere
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
Nagoya - Kin no Shacchi VGCS/金ノ鯱VGCS
First place: Veronica with Perdition Dragons
Second place: Shokushu with Cat Butler Raizers
Third place: Sawa with Thing-Saver “Abyss”
Fourth place: Mirutae with Seekers
The Kin no Sacchi championship had 42 participants, and is the first victory for Perdition Dragons in the BT17-on format. Tournament champion Veronica's Perditions show many of the same bases and strategies as Nouvelle Vague and Dauntless Dominate from the Link Joker era. This lends credence to the Perditions as not just one of the next major subclans, but also as the next major Kagerou deck as a whole. Further down at the Chiba Brave Cup a similar Perdition deck that integrated Nouvelle support topped on the same principles. Veronica's Perditions display the aggression and control focus of DNV; Menace Laser Dragon fills the role that Nouvellecritic once did, while Bellicosity and Berserk Dragon are retained in their old roles. The deck even makes use of Dauntless Drive rather than Pain Laser, the intended supporting grade 3 from BT17. A breakdown of participating fighters' decks is not available.
Veronica's Perdition
Grade 0
x1 Red Pulse Dracokid (FV)
x4 Dragon Dancer, Barbara HT
x4 Gattling Claw Dragon DT
x2 Perdition Spirit, Flare Looper DT
x4 Perdition Dragon, Buster Rain Dragon CT
x2 Blue-ray Dracokid CT
Grade 1
x4 Dragon Monk, Gojo
x2 Perdition Dragon Knight, Sheer
x4 Perdition Dragon, Rampart Dragon
x3 Calamity Tower Wyvern
Grade 2
x4 Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon
x3 Perdition Dragon, Menace Laser Dragon
x3 Bellicosity Dragon
x2 Berserk Dragon
Grade 3
x4 Perdition Dragon, Vortex Dragonute
x4 Dauntless Drive Dragon
Chiba City - First VG Chiba Brave Cup/第一回千葉ぶれいぶ杯
First place: Tsukishiro with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Second place: Asano with Vortex Dragonewt-Dragonic Nouvelle Vague
Third place: Kitsunemaru with Regalia
Fourth place: Tatara with Thing Saver
At Chiba there were 92 participants, with TSA and Vortex Dragonewt-DNV in first and second. Asano's Nouvelle deck played three copies of both Dragonic Nouvelle Vague and Vortex Dragonewt, supported by two Dauntless Drive and a playset of Nouvelleroman. Meanwhile Kitsunemaru's Regalia deck ran four of CEO Yggdrasil, three Angelica break rides and two Minerva as a finishing move. Overall the rest of this deck was very similar to the Regalia decks played by Warosu at the third Kansai VGCS, but with a playset of Apple Witch Cider replacing Pure Angel and Ordain Owl in place of Juno.
Clan breakdownTsukishiro's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Thing Saver 3
Thing Saver-“Abyss” 11
Brawler 13
Eradicator 1
Vortex-Nouvelle 7
Kagerou (Vortex-Menace Laser) 6
Star-vader 7
Glendios 2
Revenger 8
Regalia 5
Witch 1
Aqua Force 2
Raizer 2
Metalborg 2
Bermuda Triangle 2
Murakumo 2
Granblue 2
Spike Brothers 1
Machining 1
Amaterasu 1
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x3 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
x1 Revenger, Air Raid Dragon CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x3 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
x1 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x2 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
x1 Knight of Loyalty, Bedivere
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x2 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
Minamikoshigaya - Third Beast Deity Cup/第三回獣神杯
First place: Moyashitaro with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Second place: Shiimo with Link Joker
Third Place: Hyoga with Pale Moon
Fourth place: Leviath with Liberator
The Third Beast Deity Cup had 55 participants. Fourth place fighter Leviath played a combination of the new Prominence Core and Percival cards in his Gold Paladin deck. Much of the theorizing surrounding the new Liberators has typically included Monarch Sanctuary Alfred as at least a 2-of, owing to the importance of the Link Joker matchup in the BT17-on format. Instead Leviath limited his use of the old Gold Paladins to grade 1 supporting rearguards with on-call skills that would trigger a cascade of different effects through Prominence and Percival.
Runner-up Shiimo played a fusion of Dark Zodiac and Garnet Star in his Link Joker deck, with Colony Maker, Opener of Dark Gates and Lanthanum as supporting units. Notably, this deck only used a single perfect defense card, running three copies of Link Joker's new Rejection Dragon Quintet Wall in place of additional Promethiums. As the main feature of the deck, Dark Zodiac is noted for his ability to prevent the opponent's cards from unlocking, which is why some fighters have turned to pairing him with Omega Glendios in order to active the World End win condition; getting to the damage level necessary for this usually requires exposing oneself to an unguarded vanguard at some point, hence it has not caught on in Japanese play compared to pairing Zodiac with Garnet Star or Imaginary Plane.
Third place fighter Hyoga's Pale Moon deck was a Cracking Beast Tamer and Miracle Pop build, with vanilla 10000-power units for the rest of the grade 2 lineup. By getting away from the Silver Thorn cards and focusing on his Legion, Hyoga was able to include three copies of Midnight Bunny and Egg Juggler in order to trigger multiple attacks, create pressure lanes and build up card advantage through draw power.
Clan breakdownMoyashitaro's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
14 Royal Paladin (10 Thing Saver-“Abyss” 4 Thing Saver-Sacred Wingal)
5 Gold Paladin (Liberator)
5 Kagerou (Perdition Dragon)
6 Link Joker (Star-vader)
3 Nova Grappler (1 Blau 1 Raizer 1 Asura)
3 Narukami (Brawler)
2 Genesis (Regalia)
4 Shadow Paladin (3 Revenger, 1 Revenger-Gust)
2 Neo Nectar (Musketeers)
2 Pale Moon (1 Silver Thorns 1 Cracking Beast Tamer)
1 Aqua Force (Blue Storm)
1 Tachikaze (Ancient Dragons)
1 Granblue
1 Oracle Think Tank (Battle Sister)
1 Nubatama
4 Not public
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x4 Margal DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x4 Certain Kill Seeker, Modron CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x4 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x2 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x4 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
Tachikawa City - Fifth Tachikawa VGCS/第五回立川VGCS
First place: Healer with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Second place: Tsumayouji with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Third place: Seruru with Revengers
Fourth place: Shirley@YourOrderIsARabbit? with Thing Saver-Brutus
73 participants attended the fifth Tachikawa CS and while Thing Saver-“Abyss” has continued to outshine both actual TS and Phantom Blaster “Abyss” decks, third place fighter Seruru was nonetheless able to make top 4 with an “Abyss” deck of his own. Seruru's Revengers used 4 copies of “Abyss” and 4 Raging Form Dragon, eschewing Masquerade for a grade 2 lineup of Tartu, both Dark Revenger variants and one Mana, which follows the trend set by last months Kansai championship. In a deck where the rearguards largely serve to provide sacrifices for one or two powerful turns with a high-power vanguard lane, independent attackers like Masquerade are not strongly called for because they are not likely to remain on the field for very long.
Clan breakdownHealer's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
19 Royal Paladin (13 Thing Saver-“Abyss” 6 Other Thing Saver)
10 Kagerou (6 Perdition, 3 Perdition-Nouvelle, 1 Nouvelle)
9 Liberator
7 Shadow Paladin (6 Revenger 1 Witch)
5 Star-vader
4 Narukami (3 Brawler, 1 Eradicator)
4 Great Nature
4 Regalia
3 Nova Grappler (2 Raizer 1 Blau)
2 Musketeers
1 Celestials
1 Dark Irregular
1 Ancient Dragons
1 Battle Sister
1 Blue Storm
1 Metalborg
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Seeker, Loving Healer HT
x4 Margal DT
x1 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Jewel Knight, Noble Stinger CT
x3 Blazing Jewel Knight, Rachelle CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x4 Pongal
x3 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x1 Transient Revenger, Masquerade
x3 Lake Maiden, Lien
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x4 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x3 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x1 Blaster Blade Spirit
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x1 Soul Saver Dragon
x1 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
Fukuoka - Second Kitakyuu VGCS/第二回キタキューVGCS
First place: Seishirou with Thing Saver-“Abyss”
Second place: Porakis with Cat Butler Raizers
Third place: Kirisaamen with Thing Saver-Brutus
Fourth place: Mishima Osu with Cat Butler Raizers
Finally, 40 fighters entered the second Kitakyuu CS, with the top 4 being split between Royal Paladin and Nova Grappler decks. One point that Kitakyuu has illustrated is the overall similarities between the major Legion decks of Japanese play, with certain necessities cropping up in each. Card changing grade 1s--primarily clones of Dragon Monk Gojo but with some Emerald Witch cropping up--are now a necessity in most Legion decks, as are at least one or two Quintet Walls. And while the cards are not completely equivalent in comparison, just as Revenger decks have become heavily dependent on Judgebau into double Swordbreakers to soulblast and build up card advantage in the hand, any deck with access to Luck Bird clones (and in Nova Grappler's case, Street Bouncer) is running them near to or maxed. Conversely the 12000-power attackers of last year are diminishing except when called for by a Legion vanguard. The homogeneity of past formats has not disappeared, but has been channeled into different points.
Clan breakdownSeishirou's Thing Saver-“Abyss”
7 Royal Plaadin
6 Shadow Plaadin
4 Nova Grappler
3 Narukami
3 Link Joker
3 GOld Pladin
3 Spike Brothers
2 Genesis
2 Dimension Police
2 Neo Nectar
2 Kagerou
1 Pale Moon
1 Bermuda Triangle
Grade 0
x1 Wingal Brave (FV)
x4 Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine HT
x4 Margal DT
x1 Freezing Revenger DT
x4 Seeker, Herald Breath Dragon CT
x3 Bringer of Good Luck, Epona CT
Grade 1
x4 Guardian Law Seeker, Shiron
x2 Knight of Friendship, Kay
x2 Glynngal Seeker
x4 Lake Maiden, Lien
x2 Flail Seeker, Hasbasado
x1 Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter
Grade 2
x4 Blaster Blade Seeker
x2 Battle Spirit Revenger, Mackart
x4 Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”
x2 Blaster Blade Spirit
Grade 3
x4 Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
x2 Revenger, Phantom Blaster “Abyss”
